Started A New Blog

Hi guys!

Hope you've all been well.

So... Some of you know that I've been thinking of starting a new blog on my health+wellness adventures now that I'm doing my part-time Naturopathic Nutrition course. I've been tinkering around a bit and decided to finally do it. YAYYYYYYYY!

It'll be a blog documenting my food/ nutrition/ detox experiences and experiments as I make my way through naturopathy school.

You're welcome to check it out here at: The Enlightened Spoon, or click on the website image below.

And follow the Facebook page, so you can see updates on your timeline.

Thanks for your support! :)

Spring Cleanse: Day 3

- On rising: 1 cup Fenugreek water (see yesterday's post for explanation), followed by 1 cup lemon water and Triphala supplement.

- 7.30am: Breakfast smoothie

Ingredients:
Spinach
Apple
Parsley
Basil
Ginger
Turmeric (this stuff STAINS, so if you have a white blender, like me, wash it STAT)
Sprouted hemp seeds
Chia seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Water - enough so the smoothie is your desired consistency.

*Because I had 1 glass less water this morning, I wasn't running to pee as much in today's workshop (Yup, was at Day 2 of Paul's pranayama and ashtanga workshop again today). 

- 2pm: Lunch while at this workshop and so no juicing... 
Cucumber slices
Carrot sticks
Pineapple chunks

...Followed by a wheatgrass shot from the deli round the corner. 

And then it pretty much all fell apart from here... coz I went to see Iron Man 3 after the workshop and then caught up with Paul over dinner. Funny enough he said "how many days cleanse are you on? 3 days only? Pffft... you're fine to break the juicing tonight". 

HAHAHAHA. That's why Paul Dallaghan is one of my fave yoga teachers. He's been through all the hardcore teachings and traditional ascetic practices, but now embraces a "No dogma" approach. 

I'm good with this. I wasn't going on a hardcore week-long fast this time anyway, just wanted a very gentle reset from all the sugar and coffee and craaaaaaap I'd been eating. So... We went for Vietnamese since this was pretty much "easier" for my "cleanse". 

7.30pm: Dinner. Veggie rice paper rolls. 

...and then it REALLY fell apart when I started picking at his mixed vegetables, white rice and fried noodles. And er... we ordered dessert to share (!!) HAHAHAHA. I had just a few spoonfuls of banana and coconut custard. My belly is confused now and feels heavy. But oh so satisfied... ;p 

Guys - Please. That dinner is a good example of what NOT to do when on a cleanse. And what not to do when just getting out of a cleanse. I should've just stuck with the rice paper rolls only and not gone further tonight. But... You only live once. Heh.   

- 11pm: Yogi Tea Detox Tea with Triphala supplement. 

Overall, I'm feeling good - not feeling particularly springy with energy as I have on previous detoxes, but neither am I feeling low on energy either. I think if I'd have kept this up for 5 or even 7 days, I probably would've felt the benefits more intensely. This is the shortest cleanse I've ever done, so I've got nothing else to compare it with. It's probably a good idea to keep this up every few months just to hit the reset button with the digestive system. 

I'm glad I did this... Gives me some ideas on how to formulate other DIY detoxes down the road too...! Hope it's helped you too in some way. :) 

Spring Cleanse: Day 2

- On rising: 1 large glass of water, followed by a cup of Fenugreek water. This is just Fenugreek seeds soaked overnight and you drink that water the next day. It's an Ayurvedic practice I picked up on a previous detox... it apparently lowers blood-sugar levels, but I really don't know enough about whether its got other cleansing properties. It didn't do any harm on the last detox I did, so I figured why not. 

Google says it's great for milk flow/ lactation. Great! Super handy right now. Bahahaha. But then Google also says it tastes like maple syrup. ?!? Bollocks. It's got a very herbal taste... Tastes like I walked into a Chinese medical hall. This is what it looks like soaking in water: 

And then I chugged another glass of hot water and lemon with a Triphala supplement after that. 

And voila!! "Elimination time"! Sorry, you don't need to hear about my bowel movements but I've got to reiterate how IMPORTANT it is to have a dump when you're on any kind of cleanse. Toxins leave your body 3 ways: through your skin, pee and poo. A large percentage of toxins gets dumped out in your large intestine, which is why it's CRUCIAL you have regular dumps, to get rid of those toxins before your body reabsorbs them again. Which would be a pointless detox. Apologies... It seems I can't talk about food without also talking about poo... But hey, the two go hand in hand! :p  

** Sidetrack: this is why it's important to drink loads of water too - to eliminate through your pee, and also to help keep stuff flowing in your gut. Another great thing to do is keep exercising or sit in the steam room so you get your pores open and sweating out all those toxins. And now back to regular programming **

- 8am: Breakfast green smoothie.

Ingredients: 

Spinach

Cucumber

Apple

Ginger

Sprouted hemp seeds

Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency

The breakfast of Incredible-Hulk champions...

Then I went to Paul Dallaghan's Pranayama and Ashtanga workshop... and of course within the first hour, I was running to pee about 10 times, all throughout the quiet meditation introduction. Arrrggghhhhh!! And then the same thing happened in the second hour. I'm not joking... people must've thought I had the bladder of a squirrel... But... Did you see how much fluid I'd downed in the first hour on waking up?! 

On a side note, this is the gorgeous space we were practicing in today: 

So then of course I couldn't juice anything for lunch while on the workshop. But I went prepared with my little bag of tricks that contained:

Pineapple and cucumber slices (odd flavour combo, I wasn't thinking this morning!)

Raw cashews and almonds (nuts probably aren't so great on a cleanse, especially unsprouted, but I figured "screw it", I needed something convenient and there are worse things than nuts to snack on so these would do.) 

Chia seeds

Yogi Tea Detox Tea

Cayenne Pepper

Turmeric

...Turns out I only ate the pineapple and cucumber slices at lunch, along with some of the cashews. Even Paul commented "you're on a cleanse and you're eating nuts?!" Hehe. DEAL WITH IT.

- 5.30pm: Post-workshop late lunch smoothie. Also took a Vitamin B-complex supplement along with this coz... Oops, forgot to take it in the morning... 

Ingredients: 

Carrots

Celery

Parsley

Ginger

Chia seeds

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Turmeric

Cayenne Pepper (the amount on that teaspoon was waaaaaaay spicy, even though I can handle "Asian level" spiciness)   
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency

- 8.30pm: Yogi Tea Detox Tea with a Triphala supplement. (should've done Triphala before bedtime. Dunno why I decided to do it now. Probably coz I read the label and it said "take before food". So I did. Hahaha.)

- 8.45pm: Dinner smoothie

Ingredients: 

Sprouted cashews (raw cashews soaked for 8-10hrs)

Virgin cold-pressed coconut oil

Cardamom

Cinnamon

Vanilla bean

Maple syrup (just a dash. It's still good without this but I couldn't help myself)
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency

It's the same ingredients as last night's dinner smoothie, except I added Cardamom and ooooooweeeee, YES!!!! This one is so good I will make cashew milks with this recipe even when I'm not detoxing. It is soooooo good (can you hear me patting myself on my back now). 

- Nightcap: A glass of Fenugreek water. The same seeds from this morning can be re-used once, so that's what I used to re-soak again. 

How I feel today: Pretty normal. No mood swings. When I woke up, it felt like my tongue had a coating over it. And at the start of the workshop, it felt like I had the coating again over it... Maybe it's psychosomatic coz when I looked in the mirror, there was no white stuff or "ama" on my tongue at all. 

Otherwise, I'm feeling good! The funny thing on these cleanses is - I almost always end up feeling ultra-bloated anyway coz of all the fluid intake... Ugh. 

...Also, I might end up not juicing at all at my last meal tomorrow night as I'm going to catch up with Paul over dinner. How can I say "No" to a meal with one of my fave teachers? :) Let's see how we go though... Didn't think I'd manage to stay as raw and juiced as I have today, so never say never! 

Spring Cleanse: Day 1

- On rising: 1 large glass of water, followed by a cup of hot water and lemon. 

(this is my usual daily ritual anyway, usually I add chia seeds to my lemon-water, but not today as I'm planning on having some chia-lemon-water later in the day, if and when I start to get hungry). 

- 8am: Breakfast green smoothie. (I call this a smoothie only coz I use a blender and leave all the pulp in, adding as much water as I want so that it's not chunky/ gloopy but more like a pulpy juice. That's a smoothie to me. Bam.) 

Ingredients: 

Basil (growing by my window)

Cucumber

Celery

Sprouted hemp seeds (unhulled and soaked overnight. No idea if soaking unhulled hemp seeds actually has any real benefit, so gotta look into this a little more.) 

Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency
(All pre-chopped the night before so I'd have less to do in the AM). 

- 10.45am: Pineapple snack. Multi-vitamin and algae oil (for Omega-3, EPA+DHA) supplements. 

- Fresh mint tea (hot water with fresh mint leaves) and then more lemon-water. This combo is chugged throughout the day. 

- 1.30pm: Lunch smoothie. 

Ingredients:
Apple
Carrot
Ginger
Cayenne Pepper
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency

I was sipping on this pretty much between 1.30-3.30pm and didn't finish it one go.

- 4.30pm: Hot lemon-water with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds as I was getting hungry. Chia's also good for more Omega-3 (ALA) essential fatty acids, while adding bulk to your gut! (If you're good with psyllium husk, you could do that instead. Me and psyllium just don't get along - gives me the massive bloat and even 1/2 a teaspoon makes my gut feel like it'll explode). 

- 5.30pm: Pineapple snack with a cup of Yogi Tea Detox Tea. Containing burdock, dandelion, juniper berry. 

- 8pm: Dinner smoothie. 

Ingredients: 
Sprouted cashews (raw cashews soaked when I left for work this morning)
Virgin cold-pressed coconut oil
Cinnamon
Vanilla bean
Maple syrup (just a small dash for flavour)
Water - so the smoothie gets to your preferred consistency

I'm a sucker for sweets and dessert, can you tell? Saved the best for last... Figured I'd have a slightly heavier smoothie to last me through the night. 

- 10pm: Night cap of Yogi Tea Detox Tea, with Triphala supplement (Ayurvedic supplement that aids digestive health, also acts as a very mild laxative to help keep things moving). I mean... c'mon. It's a detox. The majority of toxins are gonna get dumped in my colon from tomorrow onwards. And er... I usually have to "go" twice a day or I'd feel gross, so this is super important!! ;p

Of course all of the above was interspersed with lots of water, lemon-water, or fresh mint tea (or fresh mint-water, really) throughout the day... 

How do I feel today? ...Perfectly fine, normal, nothing out of the ordinary... until around 6.30pm at work when I started getting grouchy and irritable. Maybe it was the crappy conference call I was on that dragged on so I couldn't get to a yoga class, but I definitely got snappier at the people around me. Glad to be home and away from non-stop chatting of people. And now I'm properly tired. 

Forgot to mention that it's been non-stop partying from a week ago when we had a big office party, then Queens Day on Tuesday this week with an all-night dance-a-thon the night before, then I flew to Madrid on the same day to watch the UEFA semi-finals, and we continued dancing till 5am and flirting with hot Spanish boys, only to fly back the next day on 2 hours sleep. That was 2 days ago now, but I'm definitely still recovering from that and this cleanse is definitely part of the grounding I need! 

Oh well, tomorrow will be a new day. And a pranayama/ ashtanga workshop with Paul! ...haven't decided yet how I'll continue this cleanse while on the workshop, but there'll probably be less smoothies involved. 

Stay tuned! :) 

3-Day Spring Cleanse

Hola Guapas!

It has been a super looooooong time, innit. Loads of things have happened since my last post 1.5 years ago... Suffice it to say: I'm still in Amsterdam, I'm still loving life and my current job... On the love front, boys have come and gone, but I think my heart is still somewhat intact... I've taken breaks from asana, gone on more retreats involving Pranayama and detoxes and more Ashtanga yoga... And look, I'm still living to tell this tale (maybe not to you and not on this blog. Haha.) 

Life is actually pretty sweet right now. :)

In October last year, I also added one more thing on my list of "to do's" in life: I'm currently studying Naturopathic Nutrition part-time and hopefully in 3 years, I'll qualify as a Nutritional Therapist. And if I can hack it out for a 4th year, I'll be qualify as a Naturopath. Oh, this course is also in London, so I've also been spending more time in one of my favourite big cities. If you've followed this blog from ages ago, you're probably familiar with my interest in food and how I keep mixing things up and experimenting with what goes in (and er... what comes out. Heh.)

"Why are you doing this course?" is what my oh-so-very-Asian parents keep asking me, as I'm not even sure if I want to practice as a Nutritional Therapist eventually. Hahaha. I don't know. All I know is: I'm starting with an interest. I want to know more and in even greater detail than what I'm already reading up on my fave blogs and books about food, its healing properties, and how much one is a measure of "you are what you eat". So I figured if I'm gonna delve into this and spend the time reading up and studying more about this, I might as well do it through a good program where I'll get certified too. Yes, how over-achieving Asian of me. And yes, I believe that down the road, my path will eventually lead me more into the world of health and wellness, so this course is simply an extension of my interest and exploration into this world. Dipping my toes into it, so to speak. 

I started this post as I've been feeling like I need to do a Spring cleanse. Should've started one at the new moon 2 weeks ago, or maybe during the official start of Spring when everyone else was doing some kind of cleanse about a month ago... But... I guess life got in the way and with all the travel I've been doing, the only real down time I've got will be in the next 3 days. And since I'll be doing a Pranayama workshop all of this weekend with one of my all-time favourite Ashtanga and Pranayama teachers who'll be in town, Paul Dallaghan, I figured "Feck it. Now's as good a time as any other." 

So I'm making this mini-detox up as I'm going along... Basing it off some of the other cleanses I've done in the past... I figure my system just needs to hit the reset button, albeit in a gentle fashion. I'm going to do a mix of green smoothies, fruit and raw veggies. My shopping has landed me with a basket full of spinach, kale, celery, lemons, apples, pineapple, ginger and I'll add some sprouted hemp seeds and chia seeds into the various combos I'll make up. Think I need to run out and get some kale and chard too. Maybe at night I'll finish off with some sprouted cashew smoothies. I'll attempt to document each "meal" I'll have as I go along. 

And this is all probably because I couldn't find any iPhone app that would help me document some kind of detox journal... Then I remembered that once upon a time, I had a blog that helped me do that. So here I am. Hahaha. 

Warning: this might turn out to be a total failure as on days 2 and 3, I'll be at a yoga/ pranayama workshop. No idea how I'm going to juice anything, so I might just end up chugging a load of chia seeds and lemon water. And maybe just eating fruit and veggie sticks. Gulp. 

I've been more active on Facebook and Instagram, so follow my picture updates there, and I'll give the day's round up in pictures in summary on the blog here. How's that for total social media engagement. 

Wish me luck! 

Pausing to say "Hello"

Hello.

As you might have noticed, I've been on an extended, unannounced holiday from this blog. It was totally unplanned - a few days' break led to a few weeks' break led to a few months' break. How does Blogger even work now?! They've changed the backend completely. Wow. Guess I've been away for THAT long.

I have no other reason than I didn't feel like writing. So I didn't.

It wasn't like I was short on material either... From my last post in July till now, I've had one kitchen drama after another (and the kitchen is STILL incomplete, mind you), my siblings came to visit me in the dam, I went to Berlin to watch a friend run the Berlin Marathon for the first time, I went to Ljubljana in Slovenia and shot in the most magical Hobbitville forest, I went to visit some of my best friends in London after the births of their gorgeous babies, I was getting out and actually socializing for the first time in ages, even meeting boys and going out on dates and navigating the minefield that is "the dating game" (I hate it, by the way. Boys today are just too complicated), I've had visitors from out-of-town coming and going from my flat, I've been practicing ashtanga yoga a little bit, then I've not been practicing ashtanga yoga at all, then I've got back on my mat again and I'm still trying to find the balance between managing yoga and life, and life and yoga.

And y'know... I was just getting out there and "living life". And I guess I was getting out of my head a little, experiencing life without processing too much (or possibly maybe TRYING not to process too much!) I guess if this were a movie, this would be the part where a montage of different scenes from the past few months flies past in fast-forward. HAHA.

I definitely needed that blog-break. Not to say that I'll be back to regular writing again, but as with all things, it's always good to stop what you're doing, take a step back and put things in perspective again. When it came to writing about yoga, I felt like all I was doing was moaning about asana. "Wah wah wah, I can't do this and wah wah wah, I can't do that". I was boring myself to tears. I think I was/am also coming to a point where I don't particularly feel the need to share everything that's going on in my head about my practice. It helped me internalize stuff to blab about it before, but maybe it's coz my practice is taking a more inward turn that I haven't felt the need to talk about it. Also, I'd been going down the same stop-start-stop pattern in my practice that I wasn't even sure what to make of it anymore.

So... I just gave it a break. A break from all that writing and thinking and navel-gazing about it. And I think out of all that time-off to JUST BE, and get out and do stuff without thinking... Now that I'm finally sitting down to think about it, I'm gonna mix it up a little bit with my practice. Sticking to a 5 or 6-day practice a week is just not do-able in my current situation. Not if I also want to have more of a social life, or enough hours of sleep a night especially when work starts to go balls-to-the-wall busy again. And I'm done with feeling guilty and beating myself up on it when I can't stick to that practice schedule no matter what the reason (or excuse) may be. At this point, I'm gonna allow myself a 3 or 4-day practice a week (maybe less sometimes) and say "yes" to more social events. 2011 is my year of "speaking my truth" anyway, and the whole point of turning up on the mat, for me at least, is tuning in to a more mindful/ conscious way of living and not sticking to dogma for dogma's sake. And right now, it feels like this is what I need.

It makes me a happier person, and that's a good enough reason for me.

I guess that's the conundrum of being a modern-day yogi. I felt myself always having to choose between "life or yoga?" or "work or yoga"? (and I refer to "yoga" in the asana sense of "making it to practice") It shouldn't even have to come to this double bind, but I guess life just throws stuff your way and you just deal with it the best you can.

I'd much rather be caught in the RyGos double bind. Mm-hmm.

Girls in Yoga Pants...?

I think I'm gonna be sick.

There's a site for Girls in Yoga Pants now? I find this partially horrific and partially funny.

What will they think of next?

[UPDATE:] To even this out, someone on Twitter sent me a link for Men Doing Yoga. Hahaha!

[UPDATE 2:] I also just got another link for men and yoga in my inbox. Why, HELLOOOOOOOOOO! Yoga Dudes. It's probably also not fair of me to much prefer/ be less horrified with the yoga dudes links than with the yoga girls in pants link. I think it's coz the yoga girls are all cam-whoring as opposed to the dudes shots which are pretty artfully done. Y'know...? (or does this sound like I'm rationalizing now...?) HAHAHA!

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Disaster Area

Amidst this rubble lies a kitchen in hiding.



Part 2 of renovations = kitchen installation. I am living through this and can't wait for it to be over. Ugh.






Everything in this truck is basically sitting in my living room now. It's not that big of a kitchen; it's all packaging. And I'm dorkily thinking of the massive carbon footprint this one little kitchen has already left behind.






It was pretty cool how they used the vertical lift to get it all upstairs through the window though. And that crane in the middle of the road was lifting the stone counter top. Fun muscle man action. :D







Soon soon... This mess too, shall pass.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Broken Leg? Do Your Practice!!

My friend Mel posted this on Facebook, so I reposted it on Facebook, and it's now making the Facebook rounds of every Ashtangi I know.

It's too good not to share here too.

As Sharath says, "Anybody can practice ashtanga yoga. Except lazy people."

Broken femur? DO YOUR PRACTICE!! Here's how this hero modified his Primary series (and part of Second).



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Of Moving House and Visiting Teachers

Between work and dealing with the builder and figuring out what to get and what goes where in the new house and oh yeah, I moved in this weekend finally... I haven't actually had time to post updates! I don't think I've even shared a single photo of the new place here yet. I might just start posting random photo updates just coz that's faster and time isn't what I've got much of these days... (I actually started writing this post a week ago and haven't been able to finish it!!)

Oh yeah, and did I tell you Clayton Horton was also in town? He was here the last 2 weeks actually, and it's been great FINALLY having daily Mysore sessions at the shala. I'm totally lapping this up.

An observation I've made: I cannot function on 6 hours sleep, followed by a 2-hour practice, followed by a full-on 8 to 10-hour day at work. I used to make the joke that my yoga practice was the hardest thing I had to do of the day and since I'd be done with it by 8am, the world would seem all good after that. Unfortunately, I've realized that with what my job entails, I'm no longer sure if my practice is the hardest thing I do of the day. So you can imagine after Week #2 of Clayton in town, it's starting to kick my ass. I'm exhausted and miss the little afternoon naps I could take in Mysore to recover!

The first week Clayton was here, he also did a 3-day teachers' intensive. It counts for Yoga Alliance's 30hr continuing education credit. So glad I took some time off my day job just to reconnect with yoga and other yogis too! The first half of each day was spent discussing philosophy, and the second half of the day was spent on breaking down the Primary series and going through the various adjustments for it. It's been AGES since I've taught, and my adjustments are completely rusty now, I might need to start a little yoga-playgroup going to refresh my adjustments! Or maybe ask to assist my teacher at the shala... Too many things I want to do, so little time! Guess it'll have to happen AFTER the move and doing up the house. ;)

In the first couple days of Mysore classes, I was still getting back into my body and only doing Primary series. Like all teachers trained in the traditional Pattabhi Jois way, Clayton wanted to see me stand up from backbends, then dropback and stand up again 3 times before moving me onto Intermediate. I was totally crap the first few days - wobbly and crashing and hurling onto my knees... And then after a couple days, suddenly my body remembered what it had to do and everything clicked into place and it happened. WEIRD. I can't explain it except... er, muscle memory?

And since then he's been watching me do each pose at a time in Intermediate. He asked where I was up to, then said "Let's start with Pasasana". The next day after Pasasana, I lay down to do backbends then he told me to continue through to Bhekasana. And the day after that to go to Parsva Dhanurasana. And we're now up to Laghuvajrasana. I'm pretty happy hanging out here at this pose and working my way through it (my regular teacher M gave me Kapotasana about a week before Clayton arrived, but I am so totally not ready for it at all!) I've been so completely exhausted the past couple days of practice, I've been coasting my way through it, ie., not really putting in 100% effort. Conserving energy! I have my whole life to figure this out, I'm not gonna kill myself to try and impress a visiting teacher... ;)

There's something about this teacher-student relationship in Ashtanga that I find compelling. The student learning to submit to teacher - I totally get the humility and respect it takes to do this. Interestingly, I used to be of the theory that "you are your best teacher"... But I'm now going through the phase where I feel you can't really say you're your best teacher until you've had enough time and training with a GOOD teacher, who can spot your weaknesses and imbalances and guide you to where you need to be/ what you need to work on. Only when you've been shown the way and can feel it from within can you tap into that again when you're on your own.

A good teacher doesn't just help you physically on an asana level either...a good teacher can tell from the way you breathe how this can affect you energetically, or how it can affect your Vata/ Pitta/ Kapha doshas... (just from the quality of the breath, length of the breath, inhales versus exhales, at what point in the vinyasa you breathe and how this affects you, etc.) I realized this just from being in the same room as Clayton, seeing what he picks up on in different people's practices, including mine. Such wisdom comes from years of experience and a depth of study on various subjects.

While breaking down Laghuvajrasana with me one day, I had a moment of realization, that AHA! moment when I understood why some teachers put such a focus on learning to dropback and stand back up again before moving students onto the Intermediate series. It became totally apparent in Laghuvajrasana that day when Clayton was explaining how to use the inhale to come back up from the floor again (I still can't go all the way down to touch my head to the floor. If I do this, I get stuck and can't come back up). It's a totally similar movement/ action to standing up from a backbend!! It's using that inhale, pressing the hips up and forwards that's similar. Sounds easier than it is, of course.

A great thing that's spun off from his workshop series is there's a group of us who enjoy the regular morning practices so much to the point where we were bummed that the shala still only opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for morning Mysore classes. So we asked if the shala was STILL not gonna open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, could we start a self-practice group on those mornings instead? And TA-DAH! We got a set of keys to share between us. :)

This morning, there were 5 of us in self-practice including Clayton (he flew off to Barcelona today and wasn't teaching; just practising). This little group feels really promising, hope we get to keep this up!

I have to say I've really enjoyed having a visiting teacher for a solid long stretch. 2 weeks is a luxury! Usually most workshops happen over a weekend or the teacher visits for a week... But having 2 solid weeks with the same teacher really helps expand one's practice just that little bit more. And the whole shala just feels a lot more inspired too.

So now maybe I need to start working on my next post - the before and after shots of the apartment!! Mind you, there's still sweet f**k all in the living room except for a TV. I'm thinking of having a ghetto-style housewarming party where everyone has a picnic on the floor (nope, the sofa hasn't arrived yet). And since the kitchen doesn't get installed until 2 weeks' time... People will just have to order takeaway pizzas or bring their own food. Hehe. Fun times!! :)


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What the Governator Taught Me About Laghuvajrasana

Yes, I'm referring to Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, that BEEFCAAAAAAAAKE megalomaniac sex-fiend? Yessiree, he taught me something about yoga.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

A couple weeks ago, I went to a screening of "Pumping Iron". It's a cult-classic documentary from the late '70s about the world of bodybuilding. And of course, it stars good old Arnie, pre-Hollywood fame. He was already the 5-time Mr. Universe/ Olympia winner by this time and was defending his 1975 title for the last time before retiring from bodybuilding. A 24-year old Lou Ferrigno, aka The Incredible Hulk, also makes an appearance as the "pipsqueak" upstart who hopes to take the title from old-man-Arnie (or rather, Lou's dad seems more intent on this).


I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this. It is a HILARIOUS documentary that gives a good glimpse into the mindset of what it takes for world domination. At least in the bodybuilding world. And actually, maybe this same narcissistic god-complex is required to make it in Hollywood too. And maybe also in politics, if Arnie's behaviour and later accomplishments in life are anything to go by.

There are some priceless gems spouted out of Arnie that make you go "WTF?!? This guy ACTUALLY became the Governor of California and was seriously considering running for President?!" Case in point, my favourite WTF moment when he was talking about how bodybuilding made him feel:

‎

"It's as satisfying to me as, uh, coming is, you know? As, ah, having sex with a woman and coming. And so can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like, uh, getting the feeling of coming in a gym, I'm getting the feeling of coming at home, I'm getting the feeling of coming backstage when I pump up, when I pose in front of 5,000 people, I get the same feeling, so I am coming day and night. I mean, it's terrific. Right? So you know, I am in heaven."
- Arnie

... ... ...

I mean, seriously right?!? I was in hysterics with a good LOL. (Especially considering the whole fiasco with his housemaid in the past month)

Anyway, while doubled over in laughter, Arnie also said something else that made me recall what my yoga teacher was telling me about building up my leg strength for Laghuvajrasana. She said that I should go down and come up a few times, going down lower each time, or at least training myself to keep dipping down lower each time before holding there for the final 5 counts. If I don't do this, my body will never get used to how it should be pushing itself lower to the ground.

Arnie basically said the same thing about doing reps in training. He said his competitor would do 10 reps of something, but he would go beyond this, doing an extra few more... coz "the last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens."

OK, so maybe only the first sentence in that quote is applicable. The rest is completely egotistical, unyogic and totally not applying Ahimsa to one's self.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Well, at least I got something out of that, right? Basically - don't be a wuss. To get the hang of Laghu, I should just rinse-and-repeat like my teacher and Arnie say. From a physical point-of-view, at least I know what good I'm doing.

Yeah Arnie, I'm gonna be a champion, just like you! *cough*

-----

Hello Kapotasana!

You. SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!

That is all.



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Union... With Pain?

As my boss instructed, I've been going to yoga this week. And I've noticed something interesting I hadn't noticed before.

After a month of on-and-off flakey practice, without any semblance of even the full Primary series at any one point in time... Getting back on the mat again was of course going to be brutal. Apart from the obvious muscle atrophy - OK, that's a bit dramatic but you know what I mean with the loss of strength and flexibility... I also started to notice how out of alignment I'd become - that weird scoliosis in my tailbone that's twisting my pelvis hadn't been noticeable in the last month, but in the last week since I've been back on the mat, my pelvis and back have started to feel out of whack again. The knots in my shoulders and neck which hadn't been noticeable in the past month have suddenly flared up again and are screaming out for help. So I've booked an appointment with my Osteopath.

With the amount of bodywork I've had over the years, I know that these chronic issues didn't just "suddenly flare up". They've always been there, I just haven't been tuned in enough to feel them. Which makes me wonder... I've tended to "blame the yoga" for some of these muscle knots and aches that I've had. It's easy to think this way especially since I'm starting to feel them again now that I've started up my practice again.

Now I'm realizing that it's not actually the physical yoga that's causing these knots and aches. My body issues are there and have been there... The yoga's just helped me tune into them. In the past couple of years, I've learnt that most of my issues are simply posture and ergonomics when I sit at my desk, coupled with the effects of the scoliosis. I can't believe that a month without practice had made me so out of tune with my body - to the point where it didn't feel like I had anything wrong. Actually, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Coz now that I'm more in tune and feeling these aches and pains, I've gotta spend more money to do something about it!

Yoga as "Union" - a blessing and a curse at the same time. HA!

So it's back to the Osteo tomorrow for a bit of a tune-up.

In other practice news, I've still been working on standing back up from dropbacks. It's touch and go: sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. Today, teacher M said something so many teachers before her have told me "You're thinking too much about it. Don't think, just do." She told me to stop rocking back and forth so many times before standing up, coz she can see me starting to analyze the move the more I rock. HAHA! (I think I usually take about 4 rocks before hurling myself up?) So I cut it down to about 2 (I think? I dunno, I wasn't counting. See? I stopped thinking about it!) And her advice worked! Somehow when there's a teacher's eagle-eye on you too, you're just able to channel something from within and just do it. Weird.

Also, since my practice at the shala has been sporadic, I've only mostly been practicing the Primary series while I've been there. I've started to add back my Intermediate poses again and today teacher M asked "You're not doing Kapotasana?" I replied my last pose given was Laghuvajrasana. And she dangled the carrot in front of me by saying "Oh, I think you're ready for Kapo, but let's see you practice through Laghu a few times more first if that's been your last pose."

Holy shit! OK, I know you're not supposed to want poses and to be honest, I'd given up hope already having been stuck at Laghuvajrasana for 1.5 years now. HAHAHA! So this is kind of exciting. There is some kind of method to this madness of being given poses... Right now, I'm finding it's injected a renewed enthusiasm for my practice. I could've mail-ordered a pair of Lululemons for a similar effect, but somehow this feels more satisfying. And smug. ;) I'm allowing my ego some room here even though I'm TOTALLY counting my chickens before they hatch (which never bodes well, so the ego will be properly put back in place in no time...) :p

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My Boss says "Go to Yoga!"

I'm pretty sure I have the world's awesome-est boss. Yesterday, he said to me "You're pretty strung out. Have you been to yoga? I think you should make the time to go."

This dude does not practice yoga at all, but he can definitely pick up on how yoga affects me.

Once again, I've not managed to find the balance. I've been going through a slammed period at work, I get the keys to my new home tomorrow, and today would've been a year ago that K and I broke up after 5 years together.

So... there's a lot going on on every level and it really felt like I was at breaking point a few days ago. When your phone's still ringing at midnight with work calls and starts up again at 7am, and when you get a 15-minute respite from work only to have to attend to new-house stuff like choose tiles with the contractor or discuss induction versus gas cookers with the kitchen guy... it's a bit hard to tell your arse from your elbow when you're going from spinning one plate to another. And when I say "you", I really mean "me".

So... I've been strung out and exhausted. In my head, I couldn't really face having to get through a 2-hour practice followed by an 18-hour day at work with full-on stress. Leaving what... 4 hours of sleep?! When I got it in my head that "tomorrow, I will go to the shala to practice even if I don't get enough sleep"... some how this would add to my stress levels and I'd end up insomniac. Totally sabotaging all plans to practice in the morning since by the time I'd fall asleep, it would be 3am.

Some meditation and gentle forward bends before sleep has helped... But I guess I'm struggling with "that Ashtangi mentality" of "Do your practice" (EVERYDAY). I can't. I give up.

In the past year since moving to Amsterdam, I've learned to be OK with where I'm at with my practice. I mean... it's been 1.5 years since I was officially given my last pose, Laghuvajrasana, in Sydney. It used to upset me that all this starting and stopping of my practice because of my up-and-down work schedule had "stagnated" my practice.

But I guess that's only if you look at it on the surface, from a total Asana point-of-view. The other things I've learned along the way include being kind to myself - not beating myself up if I've missed a practice (or a few...), and also learning to accept that people go through different stages in life and your yoga practice needs to adapt to that too.

Sometimes I wonder how much of that is STILL making excuses for not getting on the mat and how much of that is really learning not to be THAT attached to the asana part of the practice. Even if I've done just 3 sun salutations or meditated for 10 minutes, I don't "count" that as having practiced. But dammit, it all counts!

So... Granted, I have been feeling lost of late, and it was good to have had a pep talk with the boss. He basically pulled me aside and we just talked. Talked about life stuff. Talked about finding balance. Talked about how at the end of the day, it's JUST work. He was basically telling me I need to reprioritise and put yoga at the top of my list, since he could see how I get affected when I don't practice. "Even if it means you come in an hour late coz you need to go to yoga, take that time. Otherwise when you work the way we work all the time, you're gonna burn out fast."

He's a pretty progressive boss, my boss. I am grateful to have someone as understanding as him mentor me at work. Guess I needed that timeout to pause just for a bit and think about what the hell I've been doing. I definitely need a holiday, that's for sure! Oh but wait, I have to fix this house up first. Arggghhhhhhh! Hahaha.

There's a lot going on. I just need to remind myself to take it one day at a time. Sometimes it feels like I need to take it one hour at a time. Oh, and... I need to GO TO YOGA!